Cell Therapy: The Final Frontier for Treatment of Neurological Diseases

Abstract

SUMMARYNeurodegenerative diseases are devastating because they cause increasing loss of cognitive and physical functions and affect an estimated 1 billion individuals worldwide. Unfortunately, no drugs are currently available to halt their progression, except a few that are largely inadequate. This mandates the search of new treatments for these progressively degenerative diseases. Neural stem cells (NSCs) have been successfully isolated, propagated, and characterized from the adult brains of mammals, including humans. The confirmation that neurogenesis occurs in the adult brain via NSCs opens up fresh avenues for treating neurological problems. The proof-of-concept studies demonstrating the neural differentiation capacity of stem cells both in vitro and in vivo have raised widespread enthusiasm toward cell-based interventions. It is anticipated that cell-based neurogenic drugs may reverse or compensate for deficits associated with neurological diseases. The increasing interest of the private sector in using human stem cells in therapeutics is evidenced by launching of several collaborative clinical research activities between Pharma giants and research institutions or small start-up companies. In this review, we discuss the major developments that have taken place in this field to position stem cells as a prospective candidate drug for the treatment of neurological disorders.

Implantation of Brain-derived Extracellular Matrix Enhances Neurological Recovery after Traumatic Brain Injury

“…Although transplantation of neural stem/progenitor cells promotes neural regeneration after brain injury, the survival and functional integration of transplanted cells is severely limited, and a large tissue cavity remains within the injury site. [37][38][39] Combination of ECM with other treatments, for example, transplantation of NSCs, may boost the beneficial effects of either treatment alone. Our previous study demonstrated that transplantation of UBM carrying NSCs significantly reduced TBI lesion and improved long-term sensorimotor and cognitive deficits.…”

Central Nervous System

“…Stem cells can differentiate into many different cells types and express numerous growth promoting molecules; yet stem cells can also be tumorigenic limiting their use clinically. The differentiation and maturation stage of the transplanted cell population can impact the success of the transplantation [218]; and it has been demonstrated that controlling cell fate by predifferentiation before transplantation results in better outcomes [219][220][221] and a reduced risk of tumor formation. Transplanting undifferentiated stem cells can lead to tumorigenesis or uncontrolled differentiation into undesired cell types [222].…”

Neural stem cells: are they the hope of a better life for patients with fetal-onset hydrocephalus?

“…Furthermore, studies have shown that the ability of NSCs to migrate and differentiate into the required cell type depends on the damaged areas which release specific chemotactic factors [33,34]. Regenerative therapies are being used in the treatment of various neural disorders such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis [35-37] (Table  1).…”